Hinged-bezel system for use with electronic devices

ABSTRACT

A hinged-bezel system for use with electronic devices housed in equipment enclosures. The system, comprising a comb, a clamp plate, and a hinged bezel, extends the pivot of a hinge outward from the face of a equipment enclosure to allow full access to components within the equipment enclosure, through the front face of the equipment enclosure, without removing the hinged bezel. Additionally, the system allows the electronic device to be fully anchored to the equipment enclosure. The comb, mounted to the front face of the equipment enclosure, securely fastens to the clamp plate, which is attached to the front sidewall of the electronic device along with the hinged bezel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to bezels and electronic devices, and, inparticular, to a hinged-bezel system for an electronic device containedwithin an equipment enclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typically, electronic devices are housed in standardized equipmentenclosures. Many equipment enclosures include an outer housing that issupported by an inner rack. The inner rack commonly comprises asubstantially rectilinear metal frame including several verticalcolumns, each provided with a plurality of mounting and alignment holesthat permit the mounting of various components to the inner rack.

Many equipment enclosures also include a removable bezel that forms anaesthetic front face for the enclosure. The bezel may also shieldinternal components from environmental contaminants, such as moistureand dust, as well as shield the environment from noise generated bycomponents within the enclosure. Removing the bezel provides access tocomponents mounted within the enclosures in order to repair, replace,inspect, and perform maintenance tasks on the components.

Currently, many different designs are employed to attach bezels toequipment enclosures. Most bezel designs require complete removal of thebezel in order to provide access to electronic components through thefront of the equipment enclosure. Some bezel designs employ a hinge toopen the bezel, thus allowing access to the interior of the equipmentenclosure without complete removal of the bezel. However, pivot-locationproblems plague current hinged-bezel designs. The optimal pivot locationis along the extreme front edge of the enclosure. However, electronicdevices often fit snugly into equipment enclosures, with the front ofthe electronic devices flush with the openings of the equipmentenclosures. Optimal pivot location obstructs, or shadows, the verticalcolumn of the rack that the pivot lies upon, thus prohibiting theanchoring of one edge of the electronic device to the rack.Insufficiently anchored electronic devices are prone to damage whenmoved, and fail to comply with certain shake, vibration, drop, andearthquake standards.

Some current hinged-bezel designs have attempted to place the pivot inless than optimal locations to allow complete anchoring of theelectronic device to the equipment enclosure, and also to avoidshadowing rack rails. However, pivots not placed along the extreme edgeof the front face of the equipment enclosure either protrude beyond thefront face of the enclosure, thereby reducing the types of racksavailable for mounting, or fail to open fully, thus requiring completebezel removal for access to some components within the equipmentenclosure. For these reasons, designers, manufacturers and consumers ofelectronic devices have recognized the need for a hinged-bezel systemfor an equipment enclosure, capable of providing unobstructed access tocomponents within an equipment enclosure without removal of the bezel,while providing accessible mounts for anchoring the electronic device tothe inner rack of the equipment enclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hinged-bezel systems for equipmentenclosures. One embodiment of the present invention allows forunobstructed access to components through the front face of an equipmentenclosure without removing a bezel, while still allowing for thecomplete anchoring of an electronic device within the equipmentenclosure.

The hinged-bezel system comprises a hinged bezel, a clamp plate, and acomb. The bezel hinge fastens to the clamp plate attached to the frontedge of the vertical length of one side of the electronic device. Theclamp plate extends beyond the plane of the front face of the electronicdevice. Thus, the bezel hinge is attached to the electronic device whilealso being extended outward, via the clamp plate, from the face of theelectronic device. By extending the bezel hinge outward, the bezel canswing open far enough to allow full access to the various componentswithin the equipment enclosure.

The comb, attached to a vertical column near the front face of theequipment enclosure, contains several fingers that extend outward fromthe front face of the equipment enclosure. When the electronic device isplaced into the equipment enclosure, the fingers on the comb slideunderneath several guide channels on the clamp plate. A locking screwpasses through a hole in one finger of the comb, and into a nut pressedinto one of the guide channels of the clamp plate, thus anchoring theelectronic device to the equipment enclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a comb attached to the left,front vertical column of an inner rack within an equipment enclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a single-piece clamp plate mountedto the front edge of the left side of an electronic device by threescrews.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a hinge attached to the rightside of a bezel when viewed from the interior side of the bezel.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hinged-bezel system attached to anequipment enclosure and electronic device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hinged-bezel system for use with electronicdevices contained within equipment enclosures. The system allowsunobstructed access to components within an equipment enclosure throughthe front face of the equipment enclosure, without requiring removal ofthe bezel, while still allowing complete anchoring of the electronicdevice to the equipment enclosure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 1-3, thehinged-bezel system comprises a hinged-bezel, a comb, and a clamp plate.FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a comb 102 attached to avertical column near the front face of the inner rack 104 of theequipment enclosure 106. The comb 102 is a thin, flat strip of metalcomprising a mounting flange 108 and two fingers 110,112. The mountingflange 108 extends the length of the strip, and comprises two screwholes 118,120 that align with mounting holes on the front face of avertical column of the rack 104, extending along the edge of theequipment enclosure 106. The two fingers 110,112 extend outward from thefront face of the equipment enclosure 106 and parallel with the sidewallof the equipment enclosure 106. The upper finger 110 further contains aclearance hole 114 for attachment to the clamp plate, as discussedbelow.

FIG. 2 shows a single-piece clamp plate 202 mounted to the front edge ofthe left side of the electronic device 204, by three screws 206,208, and210. The clamp plate 202 comprises a flat strip of metal with tworaised-sections, an upper guide channel 212 and a lower guide channel214. The two guide channels 212,214 each contain two lead-in details216,218,220, and 222 along the edge facing away from the front of theelectronic device 204 when the clamp plate 202 is mounted to theelectronic device 204. As an electronic device 204 is placed into theequipment enclosure, the lead-in details 216,218,220, and 222 facilitatealignment of the comb with the clamp plate 202. Additionally, thelead-in details 216,218,220, and 222 minimize jams created by mountingequipment protruding from the rack when placing the electronic device204 into the equipment enclosure.

As the electronic device 204 is placed into the equipment enclosure, thetwo fingers of the comb slide along the left side of the electronicdevice 204 until the electronic device 204 is fully inside the equipmentenclosure. As the electronic device 204 reached a final flush position,the two fingers of the comb slide underneath the two guide channels. Theupper guide channel 212 of the clamp plate 202 contains a nut 224pressed into the metal. Once the electronic device 204 is fully insidethe equipment enclosure, a locking screw 226 may be used to securelyattach the comb to the clamp plate 202. The locking screw 226 passesthrough the clearance hole in the upper finger of the comb and into thenut 224 in the upper guide channel 212 of the clamp plate 202, therebyeffectively anchoring the electronic device to the equipment enclosure.

The clamp plate 202 further contains three flat, non-raised sections228,230, and 232. Each of the three sections 228, 230, and 232 containsa screw hole 234, 236, and 238 facilitating the attachment, by threescrews 206, 208, and 210, of both the clamp plate 202 to the electronicdevice 204 and the clamp plate 202 to the bezel hinge. The upper,non-raised section 228 and the lower, non-raised section 232 eachfurther contains a hole 240,242 to receive a pin protruding from themolded bezel-hinge.

The upper, non-raised section 228 and the lower, non-raised section 232of the late 202 are flush with the front edge of the electronic device204. However, the clamp plate 202 contains a wide section between twoshoulders 244,246 that extends outward from the face of the electronicdevice 204. The wide section of the clamp plate 202 comprises themiddle, non-raised section 230, and the two guide channels 212, 214.Note that the pressed nut 224 on the upper guide channel is extendedoutward from the face of the electronic device, while the screw hole 236in the middle non-raised section 230 of the clamp plate 202 is not. Thescrew hole 236 in the middle section is not extended outward so that thescrew 208 can pass through the clamp plate 202 and into the electronicdevice 204. The pressed nut 224 is extended outward to allow ascrewdriver, or other similar tool, to tighten the screw 226, thusanchoring the clamp plate 202 to the comb when the electronic device 204is fully inside the equipment enclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a hinge 302 attached to the right side of the bezel304 when viewed from the interior side of the bezel 304. The generalshape of the interior of the hinge 302 corresponds with the shape of theclamp plate to promote a close mount to the clamp plate. The bezel hinge302 attaches to the front edge of the left side of the electronic deviceby passing three screws 306, 308, and 310 through three screw holes 312,314, and 316 spaced vertically, along the length of the hinge 302, andalso through corresponding holes in the clamp plate and into theelectronic device. Additionally, in one embodiment, the hinge 302further includes two pinholes 318,320 to facilitate alignment of thehinge 302 and clamp plate. The hinge 302 also contains an upper recess322 and a lower recess 324. The two recesses 322,324 allow space for theupper and lower guide channels of the clamp plate to fit into, while thehinge 302 is attached to the clamp plate.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hinged-bezel system attached to anequipment enclosure and electronic device. The comb, mounted onto avertical column 402 within an equipment enclosure 404, contains twofingers 406,408. The two fingers 406,408 are held under two guidechannels on the clamp plate 410. The clamp plate 410 is attached to theelectronic device 412, which is inside of the equipment enclosure 404.The bezel 414 contains a hinge 416 that is connected to the clamp plate410.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of aparticular embodiment, it is not intended that the invention be limitedto this embodiment. Modifications within the spirit of the inventionwill be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, thehinged-bezel system may be positioned along any front edge of theelectronic device and equipment enclosure. The hinged-bezel system mayrequire modifications to accommodate electronic devices and equipmentenclosures of different shapes and sizes. For instance, a relativelylarge equipment enclosure may require a comb with more than two fingers.Consequently, more than two guide channels in the clamp plate andrecesses within the hinge would also be necessary for use on a largeequipment enclosure. The comb and clamp plate may also require avariable number of anchoring holes and surfaces, and may be attached byother methods than a locking screw.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specificdetails are not required in order to practice the invention. Theforegoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present inventionare presented for purpose of illustration and description. They are notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible inview of the above teachings. The embodiments are shown and described inorder to best explain the principles of the invention and its practicalapplications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to bestutilize the invention and various embodiments with various modificationsas are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended thatthe scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hinged-bezel system for an equipment enclosure,containing one or more components, comprising: a comb, connected to theequipment enclosure, having one or more fingers; a clamp plate, attachedto a component, adapted to receive the one or more fingers of the combin order to secure the component within the equipment enclosure, theclamp plate including one or more guide channels and two or more lead-indetails extending from each guide channel; and a bezel that includes ahinge mounted to the clamp plate.